By Passant Darwish

Additional Reporting by Julian Nabil

Just as our national football team made it big, all the way to the World Cup in Russia, Invest-Gate is highlighting four developers who made it big in the real estate market in the past few years, each with their own unique edge that
sets them apart from others.

Equity Real Estate Development: Slide Tackles The A-Class Market 

Equity Real Estate Development has managed in a few years to make it big in Egypt’s A-class real estate market as well as the commercial market, a feat that is hard to achieve among the big-named commercial hubs currently operating in the country.

Owned by Hossam Hassan and Ahmed El Sewedy, Equity’s portfolio includes The Waterway compound, which offers an array of residential and commercial opportunities in New Cairo, including spacious modern apartments, and appealing retail and office spaces.

The company’s latest project, is the EGP 5.5 bn Capitalway, which extends over 42 acres in a unique location at the heart of the New Administrative Capital, directly overlooking the embassies’ district.

The project is composed of apartments and duplexes, comprising a total of 1,562 units ranging from 90 to 333 square meter in seven-floor residential buildings. The ground floor units have a private swimming pool and a garden.

Equity Real Estate Development is special in that they do not mass promote their products as they aim to make their community as exclusive as possible. “We do not work on large marketing campaigns in general, as our clientele is A+ and A, and we want to maintain the exclusivity of our communities,” Equity Real Estate Development’s Business Development Manager Mohamed Maher tells Invest-Gate.

Still, the developer garnered EGP 2.5 bn in sales in the first phase, which is half the units of the projects, all to be fully finished with ACs. Clients who are hoping to invest in the project are eagerly awaiting the sales launch of other phases.

As for what is next for the developer, they are launching their newest project soon in the North Coast, the Waterway North Coast, which Maher describes as a “unique project, comprising villas and townhouses, and limited number of chalets.”

The new project, overlooking the sea and built on 250 acres, is multi-leveled on five levels with 381 units, with a coastline extending over 450 meters, Maher reveals.

Equity are also working on two commercial projects in the Fifth Settlement, including one in South 90 Street, expected to operate in March 2019, as well as a commercial project in the Capitalway.

Inertia: Youth Aiming To Be Strikers

Inertia Egypt is one of the unique developers in that it was founded by youth who managed to make it big in the real estate market, which is abundant in age-old developers and family businesses that date back decades.

“We started in 2007, with a ‘weird start,’ as those who work in the real estate market either have money or lands, and we had neither,” Ahmed Mokbel, Inertia’s vice president of marketing and CRM tells Invest-Gate, adding that they started operations in El Gouna “by convincing mega developers such as SODIC and Orascom that we could be an asset to them by helping them develop big projects.”

“Mega developers,” according to Mokbel, “have big lands, that they cannot develop all on their own, so they benefit from allowing small developers, who have creative, competitive, and technical knowledge, to develop some of these lands and accelerate this process.”

“Our success started when we managed to create partnerships with mega developers and landowners, achieving a profitable outcome for both parties,” Mokbel elaborates.

“Youth,” according to Mokbel, are “the biggest asset in Inertia, as the average age of our employees is 33 or 32 years old. We support youth, and we have benefited in return from forward-thinking youth who are always enthusiastic, very loyal to the company, and able to study the market very well.”

Since their start, Inertia was able to successfully launch and complete a number of projects including a medical complex in Sheikh Zayed, G-Cribs in El Gouna in 2010, as well as West Hills, Soleya, Brix, and Joulz, all in Sheikh Zayed.

While in 2017, they launched Jefaira in the North Coast, a complete city, stretching over 5.5 mn meters. Inertia’s target investments for Jefaira exceed EGP 20 bn, as they aim to make it a year-round destination.

“With the country’s development plan, we have a number of goals to achieve in Jefaira such as bringing in an international university, whether an undergrad or post-graduate studies institution, as well as, building medical complexes,” Mokbel reveals.

He adds that Inertia is aiming that Jefaira becomes a “mediterranean hub” with at least 30% of its residents being foreigners.

“Because Jefaira’s land is very broad, it gives us a chance to visualize many plans and ideas,” Mokbel adds.

The developers’ success and transformation into a big company is a source of pride for its employees who work tirelessly to achieve the company’s targets.

“My biggest achievement was being part of Inertia’s growth and witnessing how it evolved from being a boutique company to it becoming a leading real estate developer in Egypt,” Inertia’s Marketing Director Ala’a Saleh tells Invest-Gate earlier.

Iwan: Making West Cairo A Dream Field

Iwan Developments recently celebrated their 15th anniversary, promising more to come. The developer, who has a number of successful projects in Sheikh Zayed City, entered the city when it was already packed with big-named developers. However, they have managed to build a name for themselves and achieve their sales targets, with Jeera residential project, boasting villas and twinshouses, delivered in 2013 and Jewar project, comprising residential apartments, handed over in 2018. The company also has Jedar, whose deliveries have already started this year, four months prior to its contractual delivery date, in addition to Atrio and Alma compounds, also in Sheikh Zayed.

“Our business model enables us to introduce comprehensive and sustainable urban communities with high occupancy rates of more than 75% across our delivered projects, emphasizing the fact that the projects are catering to real customer demands, be it for residential or commercial purposes,” according to Iwan Developments’ CEO Walid Mokhtar.

What truly gives Iwan developments their edge is that they apply their logo of “feel-good neighborhoods” to their compounds, by always engaging their communities in celebrations and events. These events include a recent Spring Fiesta, a Mothers’ Day Carnival, a Mouled festival, a circus festival, and even a kids’ camp. These events show how Iwan’s residential compounds are close-knit communities that know how to have fun and offer entertainment for the little ones as well as the grown-ups.

The company’s total investments in 2017 reached EGP 1 bn, with sales reaching EGP 2 bn. In 2018, they “aim to double their investments to a total of EGP 2 bn, as well as, double their sales to reach EGP 4 bn,” Mokhtar reveals.

What does the future hold for the developer? For Iwan Developments, the sky is the limit as they have a long-term plan of becoming one of the country’s top three developers in the upcoming five years, as well as, a short-term plan of achieving 100% business growth rate in 2018.

They will also announce soon, according to Mokhtar, the details of their latest project located at Cairo-Alexandria Desert Road, in addition to a new expansion in east Cairo and resort destinations.

Misr Italia Properties: Scoring Big In The New Capital

Misr Italia Properties, a subsidiary of Misr Holding Company, took the New Administrative Capital by storm, offering designs that will be implemented for the first time in Egypt, such as the vertical forest. Invest-Gate was present at the sales launch event of IL BOSCO-New Capital’s first two phases, witnessing lines that extended as far as the eye can see, even before the official opening of the event. The developer can be considered, without a doubt, one of the top successful companies to launch a project in the new capital so far.

“We had a vision when the idea of the New administrative Capital was first presented,” Misr Italia Properties Co-CEO Mohamed Hany El-Assal tells Invest-Gate earlier, adding that “people kept saying it would turn out like the 5th Settlement or 6th of October, but once we saw President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi’s keen interest to create the new capital and we learned more details about the project; as what it would offer, we were very interested to have our project there.”

This vision proved right, as the developer had a successful sales launch of its first and second phases. “We were aiming for EGP 2 bn in sales in the first phase, and managed to accomplish sales worth EGP 3.5 bn,” El-Assal reveals.

The 200-acre project consists of standalone villas, townhouses of varying spaces, apartments ranging between 130 to 200 square meters, a clubhouse over 4.5 acres, a commercial mall over 90,000 square meters along with a new concept, never executed in the Middle East or Egypt, which is the vertical forest; 21-floor towers surrounded and engulfed by greenery to ensure the sustainability of the buildings, which will transform Carbon Dioxide into Oxygen and decreases the temperature of the entire building in the summer.

The project is around four phases, with the entire construction of the project scheduled for completion in a five-years’ time, “but we are working tirelessly to finish the construction in four years,” El-Assal adds. As for the next steps for the developer, they recently announced the acquisition of an additional 110 acres in the New Administrative Capital worth EGP 1.6 bn. The company is looking into initial investments worth EGP 9 bn, and is currently corresponding with international consulting and architectural firms to start working on this new project.

Misr Italia Properties is also looking into an initial public offering (IPO) in the Egyptian bourse, according to El-Assal, “with aims of offering around 20% to 30% of the company’s shares to increase capital for expansion and land purchase.”

The developer has a track record of other successful residential projects such as La Nuova Vista, which comprises villas and townhouses in New Cairo, administrative compounds such as Cairo Business Park, which is expected to become New Cairo’s business hub, as well as second-home projects such as Kai Sokhna and Kai Sahel.